Doll

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the miniseries Tin Man and I make no financial gain over the writing of this story.

Ambrose was trying to take in all the sights and sounds around him as he approached the castle and even though he heard his uncle speak what sounded like a warming the words didn't register until a small blue and brown tornado seemed to run directly into his long legs, knocking Ambrose onto the stone path on his rear. Sitting up Ambrose looked up at his uncle who was laughing upriously before turning his gaze to the direction of the tornado that had hit him. A small girl, little more than a toddler with long brown hair, big blue eyes, wearing a blue dress and a forlorn expression stared up at him.

"I'm sorry, I was looking for 'Visor. I broke my doll." The little tornado explained holding out a cloth doll and a seperate arm.

Ambrose hadn't had much experience with children in his fourteen years, he was an only child and had always been far too busy studying and inventing to play with children who'd lived near him, if he'd ever been invited but something about the little tornado charmed him.

"It's all right, no harm done little princess." He said in a gentle tone guessing the child had to be the younger daughter of the queen and her consort.

Instead of the smile he'd been expecting she frowned at him.

"Don't call me that. My name is DG." She insisted in a stubborn tone that seemed far too old for a child of her annuals.

"Excuse me, Miss DG." Ambrose said making a mock bow in her direction. This time he got the smile that he'd been hoping for and a giggle that was charming.

"It's just DG, and you're silly." DG informed him. She held out a hand to him and for a moment Ambrose wondered what she'd expected before she asked him.

"Don't you want to get up?" DG was looking at him as if she couldn't understand why anyone would actually want to sit on the stone path.

"Absolutely and I'm not silly, my name is Ambrose." Ambrose agreed taking the little girl's small hand in his own and pushing himself up with a theatrical groan hoping to make her laugh again.

"I'm sorry." DG's face fell almost as quickly as it had before and Ambrose made a face at her trying to make up for his mistake. He felt himself relax inside as she gave him a beaming smile.

"You're still silly, Bambrose." DG said trying to repeat his name.

"Close enough."Ambrose agreed with a shy smile of his own.

As if she'd just remembered why she'd gone running toward them in the first place DG looked up at Ambrose's uncle .

"'Visor, can you fix my doll?"

"Actually DG, I have a meeting with your mother that I'm already late for but Ambrose is excellent at fixing dolls." Ambrose's uncle said smiling at the two of them.

"Why don't you let Ambrose fix your doll and then show him around the palace." Ambrose's uncle suggested.

"You can fix dolls?" DG asked looking at him as if she'd been told he was able to fly to the suns anytime he chose.

"Sure. I can." Ambrose said taking the doll out of her hand and looking at the tear where the arm had seperated from the torseo of the doll. Not for the first time, he was glad he'd long ago developed the habit of carrying bits of odds and ends in his pockets in case he an idea for an invention came to him.

Feeling around for a moment, he finally found a piece of blue string in one of his pockets. He tied the two pieces together and then handed the doll back to DG.

"Thanks, Bambrose."

"You're welcome, little doll."

"I'm not a doll, this is a doll." DG said handing it back to him for him to examine the differences between herself and the doll she held.

"She looks like you and if she looks like you and she's a doll then you must be a doll too. I know, you're a DG doll." Ambrose said mock seriously.

"Now doll, won't you show me around." Ambrose suggested leading her toward the castle.

Ambrose thought that after the novelty of having someone new around the castle had worn off, DG would lose interest in him. He'd been wrong. It seemed that everyday DG was either waiting for him in the small workshop his uncle had given him. Sometimes she had cookies stolen from the kitchems for him, sometimes she was there to have him fix a broken toy. Every once in a while she would come running into the room and breathlessly announce there was an emergency outside that only he could take care of for her. He'd follow her outside to find that she'd draged him out to play with her and Azkadellia because her precious 'Visor had said Bambrose was looking too pale and spending too much time bent over his work table. Ocassionally, she was even there to scold him for missing a meal in favor of working on one of his many inventions.

His world was perfect. His uncle was teaching him about the daily ins and outs of being an advisor. Queen Lavender Eyes had taken an almost maternal interest in him, often mirroring DG in her concerns that he was spending enough time outdoors and that he was eating properly. Even Azkadellia had taken a quiet interest in him in her own way. She may not have been making sure he ate properly or dragging him outdoors but he'd heard she'd had words with a servant that had called him crazy and she made sure he didn't spend all of his time holding up the walls when he was attending one of the queen's many balls. He may not be a great dancer but Azkadellia always made sure he was on the floor for most dances and DG was his adored little sister. He was her Glitch, Azkadellia had corrected DG on the proper pronounciation of Ambrose's first name. DG had looked so upset at the idea that she might have hurt his feelings by butchering his name that he'd hastened to assure her he knew that her words had just been a glitch in speech not an insult. She'd been so delighted with the new word that she'd started calling him that rather than a proper name. He'd been her Glitch and she'd been his Doll.

Then he'd gone on a trip for his uncle and his world had come crashing down and his heart had been broken. His uncle had died, Azkadellia had become lost to the family and most importantly his little doll was gone. He'd become depresed and had thrown himself into his work as Queen Lavender Eyes' new advisor. He'd also made a promise to DG. He knew the little princess would have wanted her sister back, her real sister, not the Azkadellia possessed by the witch so he decided to put all his energy into fighting the witch and bringing Azkadellia back.

For many annuals, Ambrose had worked hard to find a way to get Azkadellia back without harming her more than absolutely neccesary. When she captured him and cut into his head removing half of his brain he focused all his thoughts through the pain on the reason he was doing all of this and enduring all of this, to give Lavender Eyes and Ahamo back their eldest child and to honor the spirit of the precious little princess. He stopped answering to a name he could never remember and startd calling himself Glitch both because of his new habit and for the memory of the little one with the big blue eyes.

While he was waiting in the birdcage and trying to figure out what to do next a woman who looked almost familiar appeared suddenly. His first words to her were to tell her that she wasn't much to look at either but when he took in her big blue eyes the first words he was thinking were 'Where have you been Doll?'